#5: Your October Guide to Virtual & Socially-Distanced Concerts
- Serena Suggs
- Sep 29, 2020
- 2 min read
I come to you through your computer screen today with BIG news and helpful links!
I'm not cruel. Let's start with the big news so I don't keep you waiting and, honestly, I can't wait to share this either. Insomniac—the organizer of the electronic music festival Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC)—just announced weekly drive-in raves coming to Southern California. This series is called Park N' Rave and takes place on a weekly basis with new artists headlining every week. If you're an Angeleno and free Friday October 9thto Saturday October 10th, I'll see you at the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino for the first event of the series. Maceo Plex will be kicking it off and headlining the first event. To be frank, I have never heard of this DJ before but, at this point, I don't need to know who he is to be excited about the return of actual live music.
Now that the update is out of the way, here are some more resources to get your concert fix satisfied. Billboard released a list earlier this month of some drive-in concerts happening during the pandemic, but the only name I recognized was Sublime with Rome on October 17thin Riverside, CA. If I'm being honest (which seems to be a theme with me talking to you on this blog every week), Sublime has never been the same since lead singer Bradley Nowell passed away. Luckily, Billboard released another list of livestreams and virtual concerts to watch with more familiar names like Machine Gun Kelly (10/01 & 10/08), Avril Lavigne (10/24), and, my favorite, Glass Animals (10/15).
If you need more of an immediate fix, check out Songkick's list for some shows from today until October 1st. House will continue to be the best genre to watch online due to its sound quality not being affected too drastically. So, if you're interested in house, watch Oliver Heldens this Thursday (10/01).
Next week, I will discuss more about the performances and how they translate to the experience of being at these events in real life. I would love to hear what you guys miss about concerts and music festivals—moshing with die hard concertgoers, being shoulder to shoulder with other sweaty music lovers, having the sweetest conversations with other fans, making eye contact with the guitarist of your favorite band … The list of things I miss goes on and on. Check out my TikTok that shows my sadness.
WOW. I'd never even heard of these concert series but this sounds great. I have really been missing live music and we've been in quarantine for very very long. The popularity of virtual concerts has been very interesting to me during these times -- it is a way for us all to feel connected while sharing our favorite artists and music while sitting in our bedrooms. Great post!
I remember a younger co-worker showed me a fortnite concert and I have to admit, the concert was amazing. The main artist (Travis Scott I think) was bascially a towering giant who moved and sung while the environment changed from waterfalls and jungles to shooting stars and outer-space. All the fortnite players got to 'swim' around the environment and jump around. It looked like an awesome way to experience a concert.
I don't usually enjoy being in large crowds of people (especially now haha), but I definitely miss going to live concerts! I've really been enjoying your blog, reading about music fesitvals and major music companies and seeing how they're handling putting on performances during this pandemic. Also, the idea of a drive-in concert sounds absolutely perfect to me and I will definitely be looking into some around me!
omg this makes me miss concerts so much! It's so weird to think about being in a crowd full of hundreds or thousands of people at this point in time. I love that they are having drive in and virtual concerts, but i wonder if that can really compare to the real life vibes that you experience being in a crowd full of people who are all trying to enjoy music and have fun :)